


Don’t close the door on what you adore

by bokeiji



Category: Formula E RPF
Genre: Berlin (City), Bern, Blind Date, Idiots in Love, M/M, Matchmaking, Mutual Pining, New York City, monaco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 20:55:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20141860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bokeiji/pseuds/bokeiji
Summary: Or three times Sam and Jev tried to get Robin and Antonio to confess to each other + one time they returned the favour





	Don’t close the door on what you adore

**Author's Note:**

  * For [econator](https://archiveofourown.org/users/econator/gifts).

> Dear econator, here it is: my summer exchange fic for you!  
Although I haven't written in quite a while and I was feeling a bit rusty in the beginning because of that, I really loved writing this fic. It also made me experiment with a ship I had never thought of before, in this case Sam/Jev. I've found myself really starting to love their dynamics. I really enjoyed writing a fic with both my otp and a new ship and I hope you enjoy reading it just as much! 
> 
> Ps. a special thank you to Sarah for helping me along the way of this fic, especially at the end, without you I couldn't have done this.

Jev has seen it happening from almost the beginning. The shy glances, awkward touching, heartfelt comforting and unspoken feelings. He’s sure something must have been there before between the two - they had met each other when they were testing for Red Bull Racing all those years ago after all - but it blossomed right before his eyes when they became Andretti teammates. He had thought that sooner or later something would come from it, but how wrong he was.

Jev turns his eyes away from the filet mignon on his porcelain plate to take a look at the only two drivers sitting at a private table at their post-race Monaco dinner and pokes Sam in the ribs with his elbow. “Aren’t those two driving you crazy already?”

Sam sighs and strokes his hand through his hair, turning his head to look at his shy teammate sitting opposite the Portuguese BMW driver. “I know, I thought teasing Robin would push him in the right direction to finally make a move, but I must have underestimated just how thick he really is.” 

“Someone needs to do something about this, I can’t keep looking at this much longer,” Jev states with what he notices is an almost whiney voice.

“Who even thought this fancy dinner was a good idea anyway? Why would I want to be looking at any of your faces when I’m done racing?” Sam sighs back.

Jev grins and bumps shoulders with him. “Except for mine of course.”

“Especially yours!”

* * *

It’s about a week later when Jev is lying awake in the middle of the night and an idea pops up in his head. He groans at the bright light from his screen shining directly into his eyes when he turns on his phone, but is able to find Sam’s phone number right away. After shortly debating whether it’s okay to text his ex-teammate at this time of the night, he decides it’s worth taking the risk, afraid of losing it forever if he falls asleep now.

Me [1:34 am]: I KNOW WHAT TO DO 

Sam [1:37 am]: go back to sleep?

Me [1:37 am]: ...

Me [1:38 am]: no I meant about those pining idiots

Sam [1:38 am]: you’re lucky my curiosity is stronger than my will to punch you in the face right this second

Sam [1:39 am]: go on… 

Me [1:39 am]: so

Me [1:40 am]: I figured part of the reason why they’re too shy to say anything is bc they’re always out in public

Sam [1:40 am]: so what you’re saying is that we’ll have to get them somewhere private and they’ll confess to each other?

Sam [1:41 am]: doubt it will be that easy

Me [1:41 am]: not if we have a plan

Sam [1:41 am]: you already thought this whole plan up didn’t you

Me [1:41 am]: ...maybe

* * *

Berlin comes rolling around a bit later and despite discussing the plan extensively over text, Jev still notices some restraint in Sam when they see each other after the race. He thinks it might have something to do with the other man not having had the best race, but he decides it’s better not to mention it, especially since he got another podium position himself. 

“I really don’t think this is going to work, Robin is in a bad mood after this race already,” Sam states and Jev thinks he’s probably right - after all, Robin’s his teammate and Sam knows him like no other - but he doesn’t want to give Sam the satisfaction of admitting he designed a flawed plan. 

“Don’t be like that, I’m sure it will work out fine,” Jev reassures him instead. Sam doesn’t look too convinced but doesn’t protest and Jev pats himself on the shoulder for being able to persuade the other so easily.

* * *

_ What is going on? _ Is the first thing that pops up in Antonio’s mind when Jev asks him if they could discuss something in his motorhome after the race. He hopes it’s not another attempt from the Frenchman to bribe him into joining Techeetah, but those thoughts leave his mind as soon as he sees Sam and Robin sitting inside. His confusion, however, remains. 

He turns his head to Jev with a questioning look. “What did you bring all of us here for?” 

“Oh, but we’re not going to stay here,” Sam replies instead, a big smirk visible on both his and Jev’s face. Before Ant can ask what any of this means, Sam and Jev have already walked out and locked the door behind them with a short “good luck in there” and a pat on the door. 

Ant turns to look at Robin for answers, but his face shows just as much confusion as he is currently feeling. He decides to sit down next to Robin on the couch in the Techeetah motorhome.

“This was a surprise to you too?” 

“Yep,” Robin sighs and casts down his eyes. Ant can see him jiggle his leg and he knows Robin is not feeling comfortable. 

“Are you okay?” Antonio asks anyway, instinctively grabbing the other man’s hand before realising it’s shaking. 

Robin shakes his head. “Not really, I just..” he swallows, “I don’t like being in a small space and I can’t get out.”

A cold shiver goes through Ant’s body. _ Robin has claustrophobia _. He squeezes Robin’s hand tighter before calling out to Jev. 

“Please open the door!” No reaction.

Robin begins to sob and Antonio can feel himself starting to panic now. “Jev, Sam, please! Robin is not feeling well!” 

He can hear some shuffling and whispering outside of the door, but the shorter man starts to cling to him and Ant is losing his patience. “Open that damn door!” he screams, hoping one of those bastards is there and lo and behold, the door finally opens, revealing a flustered Jev. If he wasn’t so busy making sure Robin got out of the motorhome as soon as possible, he’s sure he would’ve punched the Frenchman in the face.

“What was the idea of locking us up in there anyway?’ he angrily asks Jev when Robin has calmed down. The taller man just looks at him sheepishly after shooting a quick glance at Sam but doesn’t answer.

“Okay fine, don’t say anything, but you owe Robin an apology.”

* * *

It’s not until the day before he’s about to leave for Bern when Sam hears from Jev again. They had parted ways in Berlin after having an argument about their failed plan. Antonio had been seething at them and he remembers being very angry at Jev himself. He knows the other man is not the only one to blame here - he let himself be persuaded by his ex-teammate - but it was never his intention to make Robin have a panic attack. 

Drama King [3:45 pm]: don’t shoot me

Drama King [3:45 pm]: but I have another plan

Me [3:47 pm]: even after what happened last time

Drama King [3:47 pm]: look I’m sorry, I didn’t know he had claustrophobia

Drama King [3:47 pm]: I thought of something better

Drama King [3:48 pm]: this time it can’t go wrong

Sam sighs deeply but knows he will never be able to say no to Jev anyway. 

Me [3:50 pm]: I’m never going to get rid of you am I?

Me [3:50 pm]: just tell me the damn plan already

* * *

It’s not as catastrophic as their first attempt, but their plan still fails. The four of them decided to go out for ice cream after the ePrix, a treat from Jev and Sam to make up for their accident and an opportunity to apologise. 

“So, are you still going to tell us what’s the whole idea behind locking us up?” Antonio asks after a while when they’re sitting on a terrace next to the _ Aare _ and Sam notices a certain sharpness in his voice. 

Sam doesn’t know what to say and looks over to Jev for support, but the other man seems to be just as much at a loss of words as him, until Sam sees him look at his watch. “I’m really sorry, we really wanted to explain it to you, but we have to go back to our motorhomes now. But you two can still stay here to finish your ice cream,” Jev says with an apologetic smile, before putting his arm around Sam’s shoulder. 

Antonio looks like he wants to argue, but Robin steps in. “It’s okay Toni, I had plans with Nico tonight anyway. We can talk again later.” 

Sam’s heart sinks in his chest when he hears that, he completely forgot Robin had plans with his DTM teammate who lives in Bern. They had planned to leave the lovebirds alone at one of the most romantic spots in the Swiss capital to spy on them, but that all comes crashing down when Robin has plans with someone else. 

* * *

Instead of walking back to their respective motorhomes, Sam and Jev end up exploring the city together as darkness falls around them and they crash down on a bench around midnight. 

“Why do we keep failing?” Jev sighs, resting his sleep-heavy head on Sam’s shoulder.

It stays quiet for a while, before Sam answers. “Because we’ve just tried your ideas so far.”

Jev’s head shoots up again, mildly offended Sam thinks his ideas are bad, but also intrigued the shorter man might have come up with a plan himself. 

“Do you have a better plan yourself?”

“I’ve been thinking, both times we’ve been forcing them into a situation while we were present.”

“What are you saying? You think it would be better to have a plan without us there?’

“Yeah, so they can both be themselves.”

Jev thinks the other man might have a point. Even he has noticed Robin is a bit more withdrawn whenever he and Sam are around compared to when they’re just watching him interact with Antonio from afar.

“How would we even know it works?”

“We’ll have to find out later. I”m sure they’ll let us know,” Sam replies with a smirk.

* * *

Robin is waiting nervously in front of the sushi restaurant in Manhattan. He usually isn’t the person for blind dates, but after weeks of persuading messages from Sam he gave in to his teammate and decided to go along with it. Sam had been mysterious about who his date might be, only telling him, “You’ll recognise him immediately, but if that’s not enough, he’s wearing a red shirt.”

Robin contemplates texting Antonio to distract him, only to realise the other man had never replied to his last text, so he puts away his phone, not wanting to come across as too clingy. However, as he looks back up, he’s standing eye-to-eye with said ex-teammate, who’s smiling but looking just as confused as he is.

“Robin? What are you doing here?” Antonio is the first one to speak.

Robin feels his cheeks turning red, not really wanting to look Ant in the eye. “Uh, Sam made me go on a blind date here,” he replies.

Antonio looks surprised, but his face swiftly turns into one of understanding. “Did he tell you to look out for someone or something in particular?” 

“Not really. He just told me I would recognise them immediately. And they would be wearing a red shirt,” Robin answers unsurely.

Antonio doesn’t answer and Robin is about to ask him what is wrong when his eyes finally land on Antonio’s shirt. _ It’s red. _

“Oh,” is all he can say and a wave of warmth washes through him. 

Light pink is dusting over Ant’s cheeks. “Shall we go then?”

All Robin can do in reply is nod before Antonio leads them both inside.

Their date goes well. Antonio teaches Robin how to use chopsticks, but ends up feeding him the sushi anyway, they get tipsy off the richly flowing sake and they share a slice of castella with matcha ice cream and whipped cream for dessert. 

Before they know it, they’re outside again. Robin thinks it’s probably just liquid courage, but he instinctively grabs Antonio’s hand before looking up to his eyes, as to ask for permission. He gets a reassuring smile and a hand-squeeze in return and they don’t let go for the rest of their way back to the motorhomes. Antonio gives him a peck on the cheek when they get back and Robin couldn’t be more happy he agreed to one of Sam’s plans for once. 

* * *

_Epilogue_

Dopey Dutchman [11:15 pm]: thank you

Me [11:16 pm]: I guess it finally worked then?

Sam doesn’t get a reply right away and assumes his teammate is having an early night before the season finale and decides it would be best to do the same. However, when he wakes up the next morning he does find a new text from Robin popping up on his phone. 

Dopey Dutchman [11:28 pm]: I’m not going to say anything until you’ve gone over to Jev’s motorhome to confess to him. Don’t ask Toni, he’ll say the same.

Sam groans and already starts to regret making these two get together in the end. _ Of course _ they teamed up to meddle in his own love life. Still, he gets out of bed, ready to finally tell that bastard what has been going on between them. He’s not dumb, it has been happening right before their eyes this whole time and he’s done keeping up these games and facades. 

He gets into casual clothes, brushes his teeth and his hair and is ready to go out when there’s a knock on the door, only to open it up to reveal the person he was just about to pay a visit. 

Jev doesn’t seem to have time for formalities, he rushes in and presses his lips against the shorter man’s, but Sam doesn’t mind it one bit. He kisses back, hungry, eagerly, like he has been missing something that was supposed to be all along. When they part for air, Jev starts laughing and Sam can’t help but join in, overwhelmed by the absurdity of the situation. It feels good, everything finally falling into place and Sam makes a mental note to thank his teammate and his new-found boyfriend for returning the favour on them.

* * *

Robin puts down his phone, tired but happy, and eager to see if his plan will work out. He feels Antonio’s arm tightening around him and he has never felt more at home.


End file.
